Canada earns win in final round-robin game, gears up for qualifying round at 2025 LGT World Women’s

UIJEONGBU, SOUTH KOREA — Canada’s Team Rachel Homan did everything it could in its control, including earning a win in its final round-robin game at the 2025 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to earn a direct bye to the semifinals.

The team from the Ottawa Curling Club closed out the round robin at 10-2 after a 7-5 win against China’s Team Rui Wang (7-5) on Friday night at Uijeongbu Arena. However, Canada could not get any other results required during the draw to secure one of the top two spots in the six-team playoffs. 

Canada finished the round robin tied for second with South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim (10-2), but South Korea earned the second semifinal bye due to its head-to-head record against Canada. Team Gim assured itself a bye after defeating Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States (3-9) by a score of 8-7 in an extra end.

Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (11-1) secured the first-place bye after earning a 7-6 win against Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont (5-7) in a game that also went to an extra end.

As the third seed, Canada gets a re-match against Scotland’s Team Sophie Jackson (7-5) on Friday at 9 p.m. (all times ET) in the 3 vs. 6 qualifying game. Scotland defeated Canada on opening weekend with an 8-7 victory.

The winner plays South Korea on Saturday at 3 a.m.

“An extra game to get the feel of the ice? That’s fine, too. We’ve been playing all two-game days lately, so what’s one more? We’re ready.” Fleury said. “We tried not to get down about the (loss to Scotland) and just learn from it. Since then, we’ve been trending in the right direction, so we’re feeling good.”

In the 4 vs. 5 qualifying game, Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (9-3) faces China, with the winner earning a game against Switzerland in the semifinal.

Canada controlled its game against China from start to finish, with the opposition struggling to pressure Team Homan for most of the game. Despite having the hammer in the first and third ends, Team Wang was limited to singles, thanks to strong defensive play from Canada. When Team Homan had hammer in the second and fourth ends, China could not disrupt Canada’s shot-making. Homan’s team capitalized, scoring two points with ease both times.

Team Homan made a heads-up play in the second end after Fleury’s draw came in heavy. The squad held the line to tick off a centre guard, waning just enough momentum for the stone to stick in the back 12-foot, setting up a draw for two. In the fourth, Canada executed a clean takeout to secure another deuce.

China aimed for a blank end in the fifth but couldn’t fully remove one of the Canadian stones. That left Canada lying two, forcing China to take a single and trail at the fifth-end break.

Canada kept the pressure on China despite holding the lead. Team Homan added another two points in the sixth end with a well-executed hit. The seventh end featured more rocks in play, with China holding hammer, but Team Wang came up light on a draw attempt, handing Canada a steal of one. In the eighth, China had a chance to score two, but a roll-out on the hit limited the team to a single.

China applied some pressure in the ninth, leading Canada to play it safe and throw away its final stone, giving up a steal of one. Even so, Canada maintained a two-point lead with hammer heading into the 10th end. Team Homan ran China out of stones in the final frame to seal the victory.

“We feel good about the game we put together. We made a lot of shots out there and had a good idea of what the ice was doing. We’re feeling ready for tomorrow,” Fleury said.

In other Draw 20 action that did not have an impact on Canada’s standing, Sweden’s Team Hasselborg – skipped by Agnes Knochenhauer as Hasselborg had the draw off – earned a 7-6 win over Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura (4-8).

The winners of the semifinals advance to the 3 a.m. gold-medal game on Sunday, while the losers play earlier in the day for the bronze on Saturday at 9 p.m.

For Team Canada updates, go to www.curling.ca. Follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

For live scoring, standings, and statistics, click here.

TSN, Curling Canada’s Season of Champions broadcast partner, will provide live coverage of all Canadian round-robin games and playoff games. Click here for the full broadcast schedule.

Non-Canadian round-robin games are available through World Curling’s streaming platform, The Curling Channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible here.